


Partings and Meetings

by OrmondSacker



Series: Fulcra [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Force Visions, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Knight of Ren - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-10 18:43:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7000006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrmondSacker/pseuds/OrmondSacker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey's and Luke's return to the Resistance gets sidetracked when a Force induced dream calls them to Tresaal, and a meeting with a new foe and an old friend. Meanwhile on Istyll, old and new friends meet when long absent pilots return.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Allies and Enemies

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** This part is in two chapters. The first which contains Rey's and Luke's story is posted this week, while chapter two – Finn's and Poe's – will by up next week. Tags will be updated then too, to cover that chapter as well.
> 
> Chapter 1 betaed by [](https://lucycantdance.tumblr.com/>lucycantdance</a>)

Rey woke with a scream, nearly falling out of the bed as she jerked upright. Her heart was hammering wildly, and sweat trickled down her chest and back.

Pressing her forehead against her knees, she struggled to bring her breath back to normal. As she sat there she heard two sets of footsteps approaching outside her door, one heavier than the other.

Swallowing, she took a deep breath.

“I'm fine,” she yelled, her voice almost steady. “It was just a dream.”

Chewie's growled comment about dreams not being that loud in his experience made her smile.

“Really, I am. Go to bed, both of you.”

There was a low discussion out in the corridor that she couldn't pick out the specifics of before the two sets of footsteps disappeared again.

Lying down with a sigh Rey stared into the dark, images from her dream flashing through her mind. After a few minutes one set of footsteps came back, followed by a soft knock on her door.

“Can I come in?” Luke asked.

Sighing again Rey rolled off the bed and switched on the lights as she draped the blanket she used as cover around her shoulders for warmth, before opening the door.

Luke was dressed in a simple, gray shirt and trousers, his hair and clothes rumpled from sleep. He was wearing a worried look on his face.

“It was _just_ a dream,” Rey insisted.

“Was it?” His pale blue eyes scrutinized her face closely. “The same you've been having lately?”

Rey blinked.

“Yeah, how did you- Never mind. But that doesn't mean anything. Does it?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes a Jedi's dreams are just dreams. And sometimes they're something more.”

After a moment’s consideration, Rey stepped back to let Luke into her room; it felt far too strange having this conversation in the corridor. Luke perched himself on the low table, while Rey sat down on the edge of the bed.

“You mean, like a vision?” she asked.

Luke nodded. “Tell me about it?”

“It- I can't remember it clearly, it's just... disjointed images. Most of them. There is a system with a blue star at the center and a city bathed in white light, so bright it's almost blinding. Then I'm standing on a... plaza of some sort, paved with tiles in various greens. At the edge of it are rows of low benches and like, pots with plants in them. Small trees, with blue-green leaves. In the middle is a statue or monument of some sort. Everything is lit with that white light, but darkness grows from beneath the small trees and under the benches, spreading across the green, drowning out all the colors. Then the dark starts reaching for me, and that's when I wake up.”

“What was different tonight? You haven't woken screaming before.”

Rey swallowed hard.

“The dark almost reached me.”

Luke nodded at that, a pensive look on his face.

“You mentioned a monument, what did it look like?” he said slowly.

“Ships, space ships. A Star Destroyer being brought down by three frigates. They're on the top of a column and something is written on it, but I'm never close enough to read it.”

Her words sparked something in Luke's eyes and his pushed off his perch.

“I'll be right back.”

In less than a minute he returned holding a small holoviewer in his hand. Sitting down beside Rey Luke switched it on, flipping through its images so fast that they became a blur to her eyes. He stopped on a picture of himself, Leia – both of them looking much younger – and a young dark skinned woman with short cropped hair. All three of them were smiling and the short haired woman stood close enough to Luke that their shoulders touched. Behind the trio rose the statue from her dream.

Rey gasped at the sight.

“So it _is_ a real place,” she said.

“If that is the monument you dreamed of, then I would say it very much is. It stands on the Victory Plaza on Tresaal, a Mid Rim world that orbits a blue star.”

“But why am I dreaming of it? I've never even _heard_ of Tresaal before.”

Luke was staring at the holo with a face devoid of expression.

“Perhaps the Force is calling you there,” he answered, his voice hollow.

Rey felt her jaw tighten as she remembered the sticky darkness in her dream that constantly oozed closer to her. If that kind of darkness was on Tresaal, it was the very _last_ place she wanted to be.

Luke switched the holoviewer off and lowered it into his lap.

“When the Force sees fit to give council, it is a wise Jedi who heeds it.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You won't be going alone.”

Clearly he had sensed her discomfort.

“But you- _we_ are going back to the Resistance!”

That had been the agreement. Finally, after weeks of arguing with him, Luke had finally relented two days before. Now Rey wondered if it had been a ruse.

“We are,” he assured her. “But I would suggest making a detour.”

“To Tresaal?”

“Yes.” A sad smile formed on his face. “We may even be able to bring an extra ally with us if we're lucky.”

“I thought Jedi didn't believe in luck.” She'd heard him say that one often enough by now.

“It was a figure of speech.”

Rey sighed. She knew that tone of voice all too well by now. She could argue, but chances were that Luke would get his way and right now she felt too tired to argue… and oddly curious as well. She got an odd sense of... something off the Jedi, like he didn't want to go at all. That Tresaal was possibly the last place in the galaxy he wanted to be too. Asking him would get her nowhere, but going there might reveal something.

That just left one problem.

“You know, Chewie won't like it.”  

 

**oOoOo**

 

Chewie didn't like it one bit. He liked it even less when he learned that he wasn't coming. The Falcon was inconveniently familiar, if he flew it to Tresaal there was far too great a risk that someone who wanted to curry favor with the First Order might recognize it and report the sighting, so Luke suggested he make his way back to the Resistance ahead of them. The only alternative would be to leave the Falcon behind on Ahch-To, something Chewie flat out refused.

It still took considerable back and forth arguments, but in the end the Wookie relented. So two days later Rey found herself tearily hugging him goodbye.

After giving her a bone crushing squeeze and ruffling her short hair he lumbered up the ramp. She stood back and watched as the Falcon's engines cut in, and as the ship rose off the ground and angled upwards towards the sky, her heart clenched and she could feel her body begin to shake.

A hand dropped onto her shoulder, making her jump, and she turned to find Luke behind her.

“You'll see him again in a week or two. I doubt it will take us more than that.” His hand squeezed her shoulder slightly. “Come, it's time for us to go as well.”

The shuttle Luke had originally arrived on Ahch-To in was almost as old as the Falcon, but in much worse shape. Chewie had after all maintained the freighter well over the years, while the shuttle had been stuck in a cave under cover for who knew how long; but it was space worthy and right now that was the only important thing.

Everything was packed, checked and locked down there was nothing left to do but leave, but going up the ramp to the shuttle and hitting the button that closed it was maybe the hardest thing Rey had ever done in her life, and the whooshing whine of the ship sealing itself against the vacuum made her heart pound.

She headed to the cockpit to find Luke sitting in the co-pilot's chair and she frowned.

“You don't want to pilot? I thought you used to be a great one?”

“That was... a lot of years ago. I think we're safer with you behind the controls.”

Rey settled down in the pilot's seat and studied the controls closely. They were ancient, but as a former Jakku resident ancient was what she was used to, and she got them off the ground in short order.

A storm was beginning to draw in and the winds buffeted the ship so she had to keep all of her attention on keeping the old ship on a stable course as they rose through the atmosphere.

When she and Finn had left Jakku she hadn't had time to enjoy the view, and when they lifted off Starkiller Base she'd been sitting by her friend's bed, even when leaving D'Qar her mind had been on other things. But this time she saw the grey clouds and blue sky give way to black, and then the star speckled void of space. For long moments she let the ship drift through space just staring, before mentally shaking herself and setting their course straight for Tresaal and whatever it might hold.  

 

**oOoOo**

 

Quintoo was a blue star placed in the Mid Rim, right on the Rimma Trade Route, making the system a prime candidate for colonization. The high level of radiation from its sun was set off by the thick atmosphere of its main habitable planet Tresaal, which made it not only habitable, but comfortable to a number of sapient species.

Rey recognized it all the moment they entered the system.

They landed in a spaceport on the edge of Tresaal City.

“Leave your blaster here,” Luke said after she had fully closed down the ship's systems and they were getting ready to leave. “The weapons laws are fairly strict and rigidly enforced. Lightsaber too. The last thing we need is to get arrested.”

“Yeah, that wouldn't look good.” She could almost hear the headlines if Luke Skywalker got himself arrested for illegal arms possession.

So the only thing Rey grabbed from her cabin before exiting down the ramp after the Jedi was her heavy, brown cloak.

“So where do we go?” she asked.

“Since it was the Victory Plaza that you saw, that would be the obvious place to start wouldn't you say?”  

 

Stepping off the shuttle bus that had taken them from the space port to the Victory Plaza, Rey found it looking exactly like it had in her dream, bathed in light even brighter than that of Jakku's sun, the monument rising in the midst of the green-tiled expanse.

Her eyes trailed over the clean open space that with its well-trimmed trees and well maintained benches looked brand new to her. How anything could be in use for any length of time and still look so pristine was a mystery to her.

The one thing that was different from her dream was the darkness. There wasn't any apart from the sharp shadows beneath the trees and the benches, and they dutifully stayed where they were supposed to be, like good shadows should.

Even with their slightly dilapidated cloaks, neither her nor Luke stood out in any way in the milling crowd of people on the plaza. Rey had always thought that Jakku had a lot of different aliens, but it was nothing compared to the variety here. And the style of dress was just as diverse.

“I’m sorry, I don't sense anything,” Rey said the second time they circled the plaza. “Maybe the Force was wrong. Or maybe it was just a dream after all.”

“Patience, Rey. We have only just arrived.” Luke's voice sounded distant as he spoke and when she looked at him Rey saw that his gaze was drawn to the monument.

“Do you sense something?” she asked.

The Jedi pulled himself out of whatever spell held him.

“Only the shadows of the past and I don't think my ghosts are powerful enough to draw _you_ here.”

He forced a smile as he spoke.

“Perhaps we should get lunch?” he asked, nodding towards a pair of booths at the edge of the plaza that were selling food.

She shrugged. She could sense that he was deliberately changing the subject, but she was getting hungry. “Even Jedi need to eat.”

For some reason that made Luke stop and stare at her for several seconds, an unreadable expression on his face, and she was just about to ask if she'd said something wrong when Luke broke into laughter. The sound startled her; she had never heard him laugh before. Luke would smile, but never laugh.

It sounded a little bit hysterical and Rey wasn't sure how to respond so she simply stood there until he stopped.

Finally sobering Luke nodded.

“Yes, we do don't we? Come on.”

He bought them both a chiri stick from the booth and as he stayed and spoke with the vendor, Rey wandered to a nearby bench and sat down.

The sun was hot, but no hotter than Jakku's and she found it nice to feel properly warm for once. The sauce that the meat on the stick had been marinated in was the spiciest thing she'd ever tasted, and it made her tongue burn. As she thought about finding something to drink, there was a pull on her attention from somewhere across the plaza. It drew her attention to one of the pale yellow stone arches that framed the entries to the streets, and the slim figure of a woman with pale reddish blonde hair that stood beneath it.

The figure seemed to call to her – the way the woman moved, the tilt of her head – pulling Rey closer. Rey rose from her seat, the chiri stick hanging loosely from her numb fingers.

Weaving through the throng of people, Rey walked at an ever increasing pace towards the woman. The figure appeared and disappeared in the crowd and more than once Rey thought she had lost her, which made her heart pound in her chest. Her mouth was dry and tasted of metal.

_If only she could see her properly, catch a glimpse of her face._

A particularly large crowd had gathered on the other side of archway and by the time Rey finally passed through it she had completely lost sight of the woman. Muscling her way through, she found no trace of the dark clad woman on the other side. Frantically she scanned the milling people down the street, but the figure was gone.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and she whirled, poised to strike, only to find Luke looking worriedly at her.

“What happened?” he asked

“I saw- thought I saw...” Rey shook her head. Ever since she had retrieved that memory of her mother, the woman had never been far from her mind.

_Why had she left her? Where was she and was she even alive?_

As much as she tried not to think of it, the questions preyed on her mind.

 _And how often had she stopped herself from scanning the faces of newcomers on Jakku for any trace of familiarity?_ Now that she knew what her mother looked like, or had all those years ago, of course her mind kept looking for that face in any crowd.

She sighed. It was ridiculous _she_ was ridiculous, chasing ghosts on a whim just because a person happened to halfway look like her from behind.

_Who even said her mother looked remotely the same today?_

Rey nodded firmly.

“It was nothing. A trick of my mind.”

Luke kept studying her.

“Are you certain? If this place called to you, it did so for a reason.”

“Yes, I'm-” She cut herself off as a feeling of something cold, something _dark_ , stole over her, bringing with it memories of Starkiller Base. From the subtle change on Luke's face she could tell he felt it too.

“Don't,” he whispered as he used the hand he still had on her shoulder to steer her away from the archway they were standing in and the street behind it. “Don't try to reach for it.”

Rey clamped down hard on her instinct to lash out after the unpleasant thing she sensed.

“What is it?”

“A Knight of Ren. Close by. If you reach out you'll alert them to our presence, if they're not aware of us already.”

She felt panic rise in her chest, wishing she had any weapon to hand.

“Calm yourself. Don't speculate on what _might_ happen, focus on what _is_.”

Rey swallowed and nodded.

“And Rey, as long as a Jedi can touch the Force they're _never_ unarmed.”

“Okay, but what do we _do_?”

“For now, we wait. Whether the Knight has sensed us or not, they might reveal themselves if we are patient. If they do, it is possible we could follow them without being seen.”

“But can't we find them?”

“Not without revealing ourselves. We're at a disadvantage and I'm not willing to do that unless the situation becomes dire.”

“So we do nothing? What if they leave without revealing themselves?”

“Then we have learned that the Knights and their master are active deep in what is still Republic territory. That alone is valuable.”

Luke continued to walk along the edge of the plaza, keeping one hand on her shoulder, making them look for all the world like a father and daughter out for a walk. Rey did her best to relax and support the charade.

The cold feeling increased until Rey was sure her teeth would clatter if she tried to speak, but still she could not pinpoint its origin and she didn't want to disobey Luke's order, tempting though it was to do so – if only to get that menacing feeling away from her.

“Do you think that it's.... him? Kylo Ren?” she whispered.

“No, he... feels differently. In time you'll be able to tell people apart in the Force as easily as by looking at them. I know the sense of him well and this is not him.”

Though it felt like years to Rey it had likely not been more than a few minutes when the feeling retreated as suddenly as it had come, leaving behind only the warm, sunny afternoon that everyone else on the plaza had been experiencing.

“Do you think they found us?” Rey asked.

Luke shook his head.

“I'm not sure, but I think it is best if we don't linger here.”

“So, back to the ship?”

After a hesitance almost too short for Rey to notice, Luke said: “No, I have somewhere else in mind.”  

 

**oOoOo**

 

If Rey had found the Victory Plaza posh, she had no words for the part of the city Luke had taken them to.

Clean, wide streets of polished white stone ran in straight lines and tall spirelike buildings in pale blues reached a dozen stories into the sky, glittering in the light of the setting sun. Rey couldn't stop gawking and it left her feeling shabby and drab for the first time in her life.

Luke took them to a small park in front of a spire complex and sat down on one of the benches near the street. Dropping down next to him, Rey studied his profile. His eyes were distant and though the beard still covered the lower half of his face she could see that his lips were pinched. He hadn't uttered a single word since they got off the hoverbus and no amount of prompting prior to that had got out of him what they were doing here.

After several minutes of silence Rey decided to try again.

“What are we doing here?”

“Waiting.” Luke's voice sounded impossibly heavy.

“For?”

“An old... friend. Let us hope he doesn't work late.”

Exasperated, Rey huffed before settling back with her arms folded. Sometimes Luke could be annoyingly sparse with information and this was clearly proving to be one of those times.

After a good ten minutes of waiting without any change or any more conversation from Luke, Rey decided she might as well use the wait to practice and settled into a light meditation.  

 

_A stark, white corridor stretched ahead of her and the sound of heavy boots hitting the ground in a precise march rhythm filled her ears._

_A huge open room filled with Stormtroopes opened in front of her, none of them noticing her presence. On the other side of the room stood a slender, female figure, dressed in black and with pale reddish blonde hair, with her back towards her._

_She wanted her to turn around, she wanted to never see her face. Her heart was racing in her chest._  

 

Rey blinked and found herself back on the park bench again. She turned her head to look at Luke to see if he had noticed anything, but the Jedi's eyes were trained intently on the street. Following his gaze she saw an expensive landspeeder pull up at the curve of the building opposite.

A dark skinned man dressed in a pale blue cape a few shades darker than the building behind him stepped out, turned and said something to the driver, and he saluted the chauffeur who immediately drove off.

Luke stood the moment the man appeared and was already on his way across the street. Rey jumped to her feet and hurried after him.

The man hadn't noticed them, but was heading towards the large sliding doors to the spire complex. They caught up with him just before he reached them.

“Lando?” Luke called.

_Lando? As in Lando Calrissian?_

The man froze mid-stride, then slowly turned to face them. This close Rey could see that his face was lined with age, his hair and moustache shot through with gray.

Emotions passed too quickly across his face for her to identify them, but he finally settled on anger.

Calrissian stepped forward until his chest was almost pressed against Luke's and he held the Jedi Master's gaze with his own furious stare.

“Give me one good reason not to deck you _right now_ ,” he snapped.

“I can't,” Luke answered, looking away.

After staring at Luke for several long seconds, Lando finally stepped back.

“Whatever it is you want, you can take it somewhere else. Just disappear, you're good at that,” the man said as he turned back towards the door and started walking again.

“It's about Leia.”

Lando stopped, his shoulders going rigid.

“And Han.”

Calrissian snapped about on his heel.

“You have some nerve-”

This time it was Luke who stepped up to Lando.

“And your sector may be in greater danger than you realise,” Luke said in a low voice.

Calrissian blinked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you want to do this in public?”

After a moment’s deliberation Calrissian shook his head.

“You better come in then. Is the girl with you?”

So Calrissian had noticed her.

“Yes. This is Rey, my padawan.”

Calrissian looked at Luke and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'really'.

“She'd better come too then.”  

 

Calrissian’s flat was spacious and tastefully, if sparsely, decorated.

Rey self-consciously sat down on the cream colored couch next to Luke, looking about.

Calrissian removed his cape, revealing a jade green uniform beneath it, and tossed the garment over the back of an armchair.

“Drink?”

Luke shook his head.

“Rey?”

“Lando, she's nineteen.”

“Which makes her old enough to drink in this system.”

Rey shook her head. “No, thank you.”

Calrissian shrugged and poured himself a drink.

“Right, let's start with this supposed danger. What is it?”

The man lounged on the armchair, propping one leg over one armrest.

“You have a Knight of Ren on the loose on Tresaal.”

Calrissian choked on the drink, bolting upright.

“What! Who?”

“I don't know. But Rey and I sensed one earlier today at the Victory Plaza.”

“And you didn't do anything?”

“We were unarmed. And engaging in open battle seemed unwise considering the number of civilians there. The Knights are not exactly renowned for caring about collateral.”

“So there was a Knight here, but you don't know who it is or if they're even still here. What do you expect me to do with this information?”

“Take note, be wary. If Snoke has sent one of the Knights here, it means he's taken particular interest in this system. And if the Quintoo system falls, so may all of this sector and that would be a hard blow to the Republic.”

“What Republic? Luke, I don't know where you've been buried all this time, but after the First Order blew up the Senate along with the all of the Hosnian system, there is for all practical purposes no Republic any more. Just tattered remnants held together by people who care too much to quit.”

“Like you?”

Calrissian didn't reply.

“Lando, this isn't a fight you can win alone. Even fighting a holding action here will get you killed in a _very_ short time if the First Order commits its forces.”

“And you would know that how?”

Luke smiled wryly.

“I haven't been nearly as buried as you think, or for as long. But that's neither here nor there right now. Lando, there's more at stake in this than just ordinary troops.”

“Unless Leader Snoke has more Knights than even the most rabid doomsayers think possible, I doubt they'll be a problem on the battlefield.”

“The Force affects us all and in ways not always apparent. And a single Force user can have a monumental impact on the enemy. Don't underestimate them Lando, don't underestimate the influence they can wield.”

Calrissian shook his head, but Luke forged ahead without giving the man a chance to reply.

“And that is only on the battlefield. What they will be able to do off it? You witnessed Leia yourself and she's untrained and nowhere near as ruthless. Someone who has full control over their abilities, has no scruples and is willing to push themselves to the limit? Imagine that.”

Calrissian slammed his glass down at the couch table so hard the liquid spilled onto the surface. “And us poor mundane people have no chance, is that what you're saying?”

“What I'm saying,” Luke continued mildly, “is don't make the same mistake you made on Bespin.”

Calrissian jumped out of his chair, glaring vibro blades at Luke.

“You know I had no choice then,” he hissed. “Not if I wanted to protect the people who were looking to me for protection.”

“And I never blamed you, you know that. But don't put yourself in a position where you will have no choice again,” Luke said softly. “They won't go away and this is _not_ a fight you can win alone. The Resistance could use you. So could Leia.”

“How do you know what she needs, you haven't talked to her in years.”

“I know she's been alone in this fight up till now and I know she just lost Han.”

Rey saw a muscle in Calrissian's cheek twitch at the mention of Han's name.

“That doesn't mean she wants me around. In fact, I might be the last person she wants.” Calrissian's voice had gone hoarse and he turned away as he spoke. After a moment he straightened up and continued in a firmer voice.

“When was the last time you had contact with Republic space, Luke? Do you know how much her reputation has been tarnished? What has been said about her?”

“What have they said?” It sounded to Rey as if Luke already knew the answer, but for some reason he was still asking Calrissian about it.

“That she's overly aggressive. That losing Ben back then made her unhinged and hysterical, blaming innocent parties for his death.”

Rey started at those words, looked at Luke and almost began to speak, but was immediately silenced by a look and a shake of the head from the Jedi Master.

“It was subtle at first, but it escalated quickly. And then she started to retreat, first from political life, then from the few friends she had left.”

“Including you?”

Lando nodded.

“I never figured out if she just didn't want me to get tarred with the same brush, or if she thought I believed the same as everyone else. Han was already gone by then and... I kept meaning to speak to her, but something always seemed to get in the way.”

Luke rose from his seat and went to Lando's side.

“You never stopped loving her, did you? You never stopped loving either of them.” Lando looked at him.

“Did you ever stop loving Mayim?”

Luke's back was towards Rey so she couldn't see his face, but she did see him shake his head and when he spoke his voice was heavy.

“But neither of us can change the past, no matter how much we want to. We can only affect the present and the future. You have the training and experience the Resistance desperately needs and with your influence, not just as a Republic General but as you, you could help rally a lot of the military. But what Leia needs more than troops and ships right now, is people she can trust. People like you.”

Lando sighed.

“I can't just up and leave.” Calrissian's voice had changed. He no longer sounded angry, recalcitrant or sad, instead there was a note of hesitant acceptance there. “No, hear me out. I've had my hands full since the Hosnian disaster, this place is only held together with string and stubbornness at the moment. If I just up and leave it would be noticed. And if the Knights are here...” The end of his sentence hung unspoken in the room. “I need at least a few days to make a convincing excuse to disappear for a little while, hand things over to people I trust. There are far too many here who would use my absence to further themselves no matter who will pay the price.”

“Hmmm. Rey and I will need to leave as soon as possible, if the Knight is still here our continued presence can't help but draw attention, which none of us needs right now.”

Lando rubbed his chin.

“Where have the Resistance gone to ground?”

“I don't know. I can find Leia herself, but not in a way that I would be able to supply you with exact coordinates.”

“The Force thing doesn't approve of providing exact information?” Lando said acerbically.

“The Force thing provides very exact information, it just doesn't translate very well into a mechanical universe,” Luke retaliated in a dry tone.

“We need a rendezvous then.”

Rey huffed and Calrissian looked at her for the first time since he offered her a drink.

“You disapprove, young lady?”

“Rey,” she reminded him. “It's just that I was supposed to bring him.” She hitched her thumb at Luke. “Back to Leia weeks ago, but he insisted on starting my training without interruption. We're late as it is.”

“Then a few more days will make little difference to that and might make a good deal of difference.” Luke said mildly.

Rey met his gaze and she rolled her eyes. Luke was doing his 'cryptic Jedi' thing again and she decided to not even try and figure out what he was getting at. She'd figured out that he did it when he for some reason didn't want to tell her something, but didn't want to lie outright either. Why he simply didn't say that it wasn't any of her business she'd yet to understand.

“Cularin?” Lando asked. “You could show her the sea monsters while you wait. And no one draws attention in that system.”

“Cularin,” Luke confirmed after a moment’s consideration. “Is a week enough?”

Lando nodded. “If it isn't, nothing will be.”

“We will see you then.” Luke's voice held a note of finality.

“So you're not staying for dinner then?”

Out of nowhere a playful smile appeared on Luke's lips as he looked at Rey out of the corner of his eyes.

“Was that a legitimate offer?”  

 

**oOoOo**

 

Luke sat alone in the shuttle's cockpit, watching in silence as hyperspace whirled around the ship.

Dinner had been entertaining, and not just because of the look on Lando's face when he saw how much Rey could eat. The man had always been a genial host and he had set aside whatever rightful anger he felt to entertain them, which he had done with great success and to Rey's great pleasure. Luke had not seen the girl laugh that much before and even he been chuckling now and again.

But now that he was alone again, Rey having long since gone to bed, his dark thoughts had returned.

Sensing the Knight so close had been unsettling, it had been clear that the person cared little about hiding their presence and the lack of caution was worrisome. If one of the Dark Siders would move about so openly in Republic territory they clearly had more influence in the system than was readily apparent. Lando could easily find himself betrayed or worse if he stayed; yet another reason Luke had wanted to get his friend away from the planet as soon as possible. He knew better than to tell Lando outright though, the man was stubborn enough to want to stay and fight which would only get him killed.

Luke sighed softly. Seeing not just Lando but Tresaal again had been even harder than he thought it would be: every street held memories he had tried very hard to forget for twenty years. But he could hide no longer. The time had come to face those ghosts no matter how painful it was.

He pulled the holoviewer out of the pocket of his robe and turned it on.

The holo showed a much younger version of himself with his arm around Mayim. They were both smiling and her head was resting on his shoulder, her dark, tightly woven braids spilling over it.

It was Lando who had taken it just after she resigned her commission and rank as a New Republic colonel, to fully join with his efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order. They had got married not long after that and had been very happy for a time, despite the controversy their union had caused with her family. The memory of their happiness made his chest ache.

Luke flipped forward, finding a holo where she was cradling their infant son in her arms, the boy's dark cheeks chubby like that of any baby and his tiny hands curled into fists. Mayim's smile as she looked down at him was utterly serene.

Reaching out with his organic hand Luke touched his fingers to the spot where they would have touched the baby's.

In the flickering blue light of hyperspace Luke sat like that for a long time.


	2. Old Friends and New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I am going to have to switch to a schedule of posting every other week or I am going to stress myself over this.
> 
> And I'll reply to everyone's comment during the weekend, hopefully my head feels a bit more put together than it does today. But know that they are all very much appreciated, even if I am tardy about replying.

_He could feel the heavy Stormtrooper armor weighing down on his shoulders, the sounds and sights of the world around him filtered through the helmet's receptors._

_*No. This couldn't be real. He was gone from this place.*_

_In front of him stood two other troopers, armored and helmeted like himself, holding between them Zeroes in his off duty clothes, his dark skin clashing against the bone colored armor._

_The scar on his cheek twisted as his mouth pulled into a grimace of hatred._

_“Traitor!”_

_Finn's hands rose of their own volition, his hands clutching his blaster rifle. Aiming he fired once, straight at Zeroes' chest and the world exploded into fire and darkness._

 

Finn's eye flew open and a single gasp escaped his lips, heart hammering in his chest.

Sunlight. Humidly warm air. Poe's jacket hanging from the back of a chair.

_Poe?_

Finn turned so he could see the pilot who was sleeping soundly beside him, lips slightly parted as he lay curled up on his side, face towards Finn.

_Right. Resistance base, Istyl. Poe's room._

_Their room._

_A nightmare, just a nightmare._

Finn rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, breathing slowly in an attempt to calm his racing heart and shaking body as he studied the patterns drawn by the early morning light filtering through the blinders.

He had always been a quiet dreamer, not once had he ever woken any of his team mates even when he had the worst nightmares. Not even Nines who had always been the lightest of sleepers.

The thought of Nines brought the dream vividly back.

_What kind of twisted mind did he have? Zeroes was the only one of the team left, the other two-_

_No. He didn't want the think about Nines being dead, or Slip. Especially not Slip._

He rolled over on his side and studied Poe's face to distract himself.

It was an odd face when he thought about it. A large nose and a strong chin, softly sculpted lips. It didn't sound like the features of a beautiful face, but on Poe they worked. The crows feet at the corner of his eyes, Finn loved those, he loved even more how they deepened when Poe laughed.

Sharing bed with another was... different from just sharing a room with another and not all of those differences were the obvious ones, like figuring out what side of the bed to sleep on, or navigating where arms and legs went. Or dealing with a cover hog.

It was stuff like waking up with your nose buried in another person's hair, kissing just before falling asleep, being woken up by having your ear caressed.

Finn smiled. He preferred that method of being awakened to an alarm any day.

Sex still hadn't happened though they had been close, and make-out sessions were certainly turning heavier and more passionate. Falling asleep after one, Poe curled up behind him, his arms wrapped around Finn, made Finn feel treasured and warm.

He smiled at the memories.

Feeling calmer and more relaxed he briefly thought about going back to sleep, it was still a good two hours until he had to get up, but he felt so wide awake now that he knew he'd just end up tossing and turning possibly waking Poe.

No need for that. His boyfriend got little enough sleep as it is, Finn had already witnessed one spectacular nightmares in the few days they've shared rooms and knew that Poe stayed up when he's had one.

Instead Finn dressed as quietly as he could, picked up his shoes and snuck out the door.

 

Finn had started on his promise to himself about getting back into shape the day after they had got back and part of the training regiment was a 5 kilometre daily run, slowly building up until he could manage 10.

Due to the early hour the base was deserted by all but the night time crew, so Finn was surprised when he jogged past the landing field to see C-3PO standing at its edge. It was not like the droid to be up and about at this hour.

Out of curiosity, Finn detoured past him.

“Morning Threepio”

“Good morning, Captain Finn.”

“You're out and about early.”

“Indeed I am captain. It is highly unusual for me to be active at this hour, normally I would still be shut down this early in the day.”

“Any particular reason? For being active?” Finn asked before the ever rambling droid could lose himself in an anecdote.

“Yes there is! It appears that the Millenium Falcon is headed in system and will arrive in few minutes.”

Finn felt his heart skip a beat.

“Rey is back!”

“It appears not I'm afraid.” If droids could frown Finn would have sworn Threepio was doing so. “Of course, I might be wrong. Chewbacca can be awfully recalcitrant some times, but it appears she and master Luke has gone on a side trip. As far as I understood that is. He only sent a brief message asking for specific landing coordinates and none of the officers in the comm centre thought to wake me until after. Quite ridiculous. No one else here is truly proficient in Shyriwook and I am after all fluent in-”

“Yes I know Threepio,” Finn interrupted before the protocol droid could start reciting his credentials for the umpteenth time. “Would you mind if I wait here with you? I want to know what happened to Rey.”

“You are most welcome to do so. Though I suspect it will not be a long wait. I think that speck there is the Falcon.”

Finn turned his head to look at where the protocol droid pointed, but all he saw was the clear blue morning sky. The droid's visual receptors were obviously much better than the human eye.

It didn't take long though. In less than a minute he could see a dark pinprick in the sky that rapidly grew in size until the distinctive shape of the Millennium Falcon was a clear dark silhouette against the blue.

As the ship touched down on the duracrete Finn found it hard to contain himself and while he waited for the ramp to lower he bounced on the balls of his, his impatience like a burn under his skin.

Finally, after what felt like an age, the ramp touched the ground and revealed not only the Wookie, but a very irate looking R2D2. How something that was essentially a cylinder with a dome on top could look irate Finn wasn't sure, but R2 managed it somehow. Chewbacca merely looked tired and worn.

“Where's Rey? Is she okay?” The words were out of Finn's mouth before Chewie even set foot on the ground.

Only when the Wookie gave a low grumbling reply did Finn remember that he didn't understand a word of Chewie's language. Slightly embarrassed he looked to Threepio. Ever helpful the droid immediately seized the chance to assist.

“It appears that Mistress Rey is indeed not here and that she and master Luke has gone elsewhere. But she is quite alright.”

“But where are they?”

Finn knew he was being a bit unfair to Chewie who looked about to topple over, but he was desperate for any information after this long without a word.

The Wookie's reply was short and curt. Whatever he said made R2 start to pipe up with a long series of intelligible beeps.

“Artoo slow down, I can't- Oh, it appears that Mistress Rey received a vision of some sort, but-”

A roar from Chewbacca cut of Threepio, making the droid jump.

“Erm, well. If you put it like that.” The droid turned to Finn. “I apologise captain, but Chewbacca insists on seeing General Organa right away.”

“Listen, why don't I go get her?” Finn offered. “Then you can take Chewie to her office. And maybe get him something to eat? The food on the Falcon wasn't that exiting when I was on board.”

Before anyone could argue Finn was off towards the officer's residential bunker, that he had just come from.

 

He heard the door call sound on the other side of the general's door, but no one seemed to stir.

Hitting the button again, he wondered what he would do if Leia didn't respond.

_Maybe she was already up and about? Threepio and Chewie might have found her in her office._

At the third buzzing her heard her gruff voice. “Yeah, yeah. Hold you banthas.”

The door opened to reveal Leia, dressed in a grey green dressing gown, her long hair hanging in a single tight braid down her back and the lines in her face even deeper than usual.

“Captain? What have you at my door at this hour.”

“Chewie's back.”

Leia smiled at the news, a smile that immediately fell when Finn continued.

“But Rey and your brother isn't with him. He wants to talk to you. He's with Threepio in your office.”

“In will be there in a minute.”

She closed the door again and Finn leaned against the wall, composing himself in patience as he waited. Less than a minute later Leia was out again, dressed in shirt, vest and pant, her hair still in its single loose braid. She appeared surprised to still see him standing there.

“Was there something else you wanted?”

“I just- Can I be there too? Chewie didn't say where Rey had gone or anything.”

Finn fully understood that the Resistance ran on need to know basis and he wasn't sure if there were things here that he didn't need to know about, but he still desperately wanted news. And if had found one very big difference between the First Order and the Resistance it was that asking never hurt, at worst it got you a no.

But Leia didn't say no, instead she smiled at him

“Of course. Come along, Captain.”

 

The second they stepped into the general's office Chewie rose to his feet from where he sat, bent over a tray of food, and went to hug her. Leia hugged him back fiercely.

“Chewie.”

R2 beeped furiously from behind the Wookie. Letting go of Chewbacca, Leia turned her head and smiled down at the droid.

“And hello to you too Artoo.”

She stepped back from Chewie and Finn saw her surreptitiously wipe tears from her eyes as she went to her chair. When she turned and sat her face was again in composed, professional folds.

“So, what has become of my errant brother?”

Chewie gave a long explanation, that was on occasion interrupted by Artoo, but Finn understood neither. As rambling as Threepio could be, Finn was wishing he was here so he could ask him for a translation.

In the middle of a sentence, Leia interrupted.

“Tresaal? What would they- I'm sorry Chewie, go on.”

The Wookie continued for a few seconds more before falling silent.

“I see.”

“General. What, erm...” Finn wasn't quite sure how to ask what he wanted to know, embarrassed by his lack of understanding. It seemed here everyone but him understood both droids and Wookies.

“It appears that a vision has made my brother decide to go to the Quintoo system, rather than come directly here. They should be no more than a few days behind him. Unless of course, my brother decides to get further distracted.” She shook her head, her tone testy as she spoke. Then her shoulders sagged and sighing she gave him a gentle look.

“I'm afraid there isn't more news than that.”

Finn felt frustration flare in his chest.

_What on Tresaal could be so damn important? He'd just about had it with Jedi and he hadn't even met one yet._

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, letting it go. There was after all nothing he could do about it. When he opened them again, Leia had turned back to Chewie.

“Thank you Chewie, I know you did what you could to get them here. I haven't forgotten how stubborn Luke can be. I'll get Threepio to find you somewhere to sleep, shall I? You look done in.”

The Wookie gave a short bark that made Leia chuckle.

“If you'd rather sleep on the Falcon I won't stop you. Though I suggest moving it to the hangar, it's more quiet in there. And thank you again.”

Chewie went over and hugged her again, before lumbering out. Leia turned her attention to Artoo.

“And I suppose _you_ want to go swap stories with Threepio?”

The droid's reply sounded both rude and pithy.

“Admit it, you miss him when he's not there.”

The droid huffed at that.

“Off with you.”

With an electronic snort Artoo wheeled around and rolled out the door. As it closed Leia looked down on her desk and the datacards scattered there. Finn remained silent in his corner, studying her. Her face was serious and grim.

“General?” he said at last.

Startled she looked up. Apparently she'd forgotten he was there.

“Captain?”

“Is there- What's wrong? I know we'd all hoped that they'd have been back long ago, but this doesn't change anything does it?”

“No. And that is my problem. We will have to start moving against the First Order soon, or we will lose any momentum or goodwill destroying Starkiller base got us. I wanted to wait until Rey returned with Luke, but we can postpone no longer. I may have waited too long already. Unless they do appear within the next few days we will have to move on without them.”

“What do you plan to do?”

She smiled wryly.

“And there is my second problem, lack of reliable intelligence to act on. Stiletto and Dagger Squadrons should both have been back by now. I fear the worst.”

Finn put a hand on her shoulder.

“They'll turn up.”

He knew it was an empty platitude, but somehow it didn't feel like it when he said it. Still Leia didn't look like she believed it as she padded his hand.

“Well the Rebellion achieved more with less, I suppose we make do with what we have.” Moving away from him, she picked up the datapad and one of the cards on the table. “That will be all, Captain. I won't keep you from your morning run any longer.”

Finn couldn't help smiling at that. It didn't surprise him in the least that she had noticed his routine, there was little that went past her after all.

 

**oOoOo**

 

Two kilometres into his run Finn felt calmer again. Rey was okay even if she still wasn't back and she was getting a chance to see more of the galaxy than a junkyard planet or a giant weapon. He was looking forward to hearing her stories when she _did_ get back.

As he ran down the trail the crowns of the huge trees closed above his head, making the path feel more like a tunnel. Or a corridor, a high ceilinged, green and brown corridor.

On occasion he would see birds or animals on his path, something that made running in nature a lot more fun than on a treadmill like he was used to.

And there were places like 'his' clearing.

Finn knew it was a bit silly to think of it as his, he didn't own it after all and is was likely that some of the others had found it too. It was only a couple of kilometres from the base after all, but he had never encountered anyone else there when he was and he liked to think of it as his alone. He hadn't even told Poe about it.

As he came up on it, Finn slowed his pace until he was just walking, deciding as he always did to spend a little time here before running on. It might not be the best way to get back into shape, but this place gave him a sense of... peace and balance and that felt just as important to him.

It was a wide open clearing, with boulders strew across the grassy expanse and a large lake at one side of it.

He settled down on one of the large rocks near the edge of the lake and looked down into the clear water, watching the brightly colored fish that swam there. The spicy scent of the grass mixed with that of the flowers floating on the lake's surface.

Closing his eyes, Finn put his hands on his knees and just breathed.

 

**oOoOo**

 

Poe snuffled sleepily, drifting somewhere between sleep and waking, and reached an arm out to the side of the bed where Finn should have been only to find the space devoid of a body. He cracked one eye open. His arm had been right, no Finn. The fresher was silent, no Finn there either.

Poe sighed, Finn had to be out for his morning run then. Where he found the energy Poe didn't know. And right now he didn't envy him, he much preferred sleeping.

Rolling over on his stomach Poe buried his nose in Finn's pillow, humming softly.

He wasn't sure how long he had been snoozing when the door suddenly slid open without warning and heavy boots ran in.

Rolling over, intent on scolding Finn for waking him, Poe was instead met with a manically grinning Jess.

“Wake up sleepy head!” she yelled as she dragged him upright.

“Pava, this has better mean we're being invaded. Do you have _any_ idea what time it is?”

“Yep.” She grinned even wider. “It's the time that Stiletto Squadron is back.”

It took Poe's sleepy brain several seconds to process the information.

“Karé?”

Jess nodded enthusiastically.

“They're headed in now. So get up and get dressed sleepy. Or are you going to meet them like that” She ran her eyes over him as he sat halfway upright in bed, wearing only his brief.

“Out! Go tell Snap or something.”

“He was the one told me,” she laughed as she left.

Poe rolled off the bed, pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt, rumpled from lying all night on the floor, and grabbed his boots. Jogging out the door and down the corridor Poe jumped on one leg trying to put on the boots. It would probably have been easier to stop and do it, but he wanted to be out at the landing field when the squadron landed.

Exiting the residential bunker he immediately came to a dead stop and gaped. Overhead flew a First Order command shuttle flanked by two X-Wings.

_They stole a shuttle! But... what had happened to the rest of the X-Wings? What had happened to the pilots?_

Poe broke into a dead sprint.

A crowd had already gathered around the landing field, most of them as hastily dressed as Poe. Snap and Kaydel was off to the far side, both looking on nervously as the ships landed.

The canopy on both X-Wings popped only a second after touchdown as if their pilots couldn't wait to get out. The two – Lieutenant Wina Venau and Ensign Soly Corrend – eagerly climbed down the ladders. Wina, spotting Snap and his daughter, sent them an encouraging smile.

“Mika's in the shuttle. She's fine. We just had a spot of bother.”

“What kind of bother?” Poe asked, stepping forward.

“Ah, I'll let Karé tell you that one. It was fun.”

The shuttle gave a sharp his at the moment as the ramp detached and lowered. Down it came Mika in front and she was immediately embraced by her family. Behind her was Karé and Lorn Thalcorr supporting Asy Me'Tu, the squadron's Bothan pilot, who was limping badly. Two med techs Poe had overlooked stepped forward and took over.

Karé saw him and grinned.

“You can get that look off your face, she's fine. Nothing bacta can't cure.”

Poe pulled her in for a fierce hug that lasted nearly a minute.

“What happened, Kun?” he asked when he finally let her go. “Did you mislay your X-Wing somewhere?”

“Got shot down.”

“You?”

“Oh stop sounding so surprised. Heard you got shot down too. Twice. And one of them on the ground? Now _that_ is impressive, Dameron.”

Poe held up his hands in surrender.

“But really Karé, what happened?”

Karé face grew serious.

“First Order TIE pilots, they seem to be a lot better than what the Empire had if the stories are true. The Rebellion would never have won if the Imperial troops were half as good these guys.”

“They shot down me, Asy and Lorn, and both Wina's and Soly's fighters took heavy hits. That's why it took us so long to get back. We didn't want to leave them behind as long as they were spaceworthy, but they could only limp back. We had to... acquire one of the First Order's shuttles from a base to get off planet.” She shook her head. “We couldn't have done any of it without Iolo's help.”

“I thought you and Dagger Squadron weren't supposed to fly cover for each other. That the general had you on separate missions?”

“We weren't and she had. But they were two systems over according to Iolo and heard about it when they were eavesdropping on First Order communications. He decided to come help.” She sighed. “He shouldn't have. Neither of us were supposed to break stealth cover like that, but... you know how Iolo is. When he heard there was no way he was going to not show up. And we would have been dead without them.”

“So where are they now? Dagger Squadron?”

“Iolo said he wanted to skulk some more. They had caught wind of something the First Order was up to, something big, he wanted to have a further look. We were in no position to help them out, so we got all the data they had acquired and came back here.”

“Any idea what it was Iolo had caught wind of?”

Karé shook her head.

“No solid intel. Just that Leader Snoke have ordered a significant number of troops out into the depths of Wild Space. And the Knights of Ren are far more active now.”

“Wild Space? But...” Poe ran a hand over his face. “After the attack on Hosnia I would have assumed they'd press their advantage against the Republic, not go play in the depths of space?”

“Who knows how that moofmilker thinks? But you have a story to tell too, don't you? How did you talk a _Stormtrooper_ into freeing you?”

Poe looked askance at her.

“What have you heard?”

“One more wild tale after another, though the powers that be tried their best to suppress them. But you know how it is, _nothing_ will ever stop a good tale. And this sounds like it has all the marks of an epic tale.”

She put her arm around Poe's shoulder, pulling him into a one armed hug.

“So, own up. What happened?”

“I didn't talk anyone into anything. I was a-” Poe broke off, uncomfortable talking even to Karé about what Kylo Ren had done to him. “It was all Finn's own idea.”

“Finn? That's his name?”

“Yes. He-”

“Commander. Captain,” general Organa's voice cut in making them both jump in surprise. “I hate to interrupt the reunion, but I would like to hear your intel Captain Kun. And some more information about the current whereabouts of Dagger Squadron wouldn't go amiss either.”

“Yes, General,” Karé replied. She turned around to face the crowd behind them and gave a loud whistle. “Stiletto Squadron, on me. Baths and downtime after debrief. Come on everybody.” She turned to Poe. “You owe me a drink, but right now I'll exchange that for a decent breakfast. Which you can buy me after.”

“Why do I owe you a drink, or in this case breakfast, Kun?”

“You promised me and Iolo you'd stay out of trouble while we were gone and you didn't. _And_ I want to hear all about ' _Finn_ '.”

Kaydel walked past, her arm hooked into her mother's.

“Oh don't worry,” she interjected with a giggle. “He'll tell you more than you _ever_ wanted to hear.”

 

**oOoOo**

 

Finn fiddled with the programming for the training simulation he was about to run for his team.

One of his current duties was teaching groups of new recruits basic combat tactics as well as their ways around a blaster rifle. The former was going better than the latter as half his students never even held a blaster before. But what they lacked in skill, they made up for in enthusiasm and dedication.

He'd taken a page out of the First Order's book and set up a holographic simulation for target practice, it gave a more realistic sense than the static targets that they had used before. But the equipment was a bit... temperamental.

It had been slapped together out of three holoemitters from a broken down entertainment module, sensors from a pair of old Clone War era battle droids Snap had scavenged somewhere that Finn would rather not know about, and he had no idea where the simulation programming had been pinched from.

Still, it worked. Most of the time.

“Having trouble, sir?” asked Sai Keet, one of the new recruits.

“No, I think I have it. Yes, there it was.”

Finn straightened up and turned to his class.

“Alright everyone, grab a blaster and lets start.”

As he gave his lesson Finn's thoughts wandered back to that morning.

When he had returned from his run he'd had a moment of panic as he'd exited the jungle and spotter the First Order command shuttle on the landing field, but his fear had quickly abated when he saw the happy pilots milling about. Clearly they had not been found by the enemy.

Seeing Kaydel and Snap hug and kiss a woman Finn had never seen before he drew the conclusion that Stiletto Squadron had returned. That would make the dark skinned woman talking to Poe Karé Kun.

Finn had made the decision to make himself scarce and not join the joyous reunion. He knew how much Poe had missed Karé, it was clear as day in his voice every time he spoke of her, as had Kaydel's and Snap's worry for Mika been, so he wanted to give them all time with each other. Or at least that was what he convinced himself of, in a corner of his heart that he didn't even acknowledge part of him felt like an outsider at the sight of the happy greetings.

So instead of going over he had grabbed something to eat from the mess and headed out to the targeting range to set things up early. Something that prove to be a good idea since the equipment had acted up again.

Shaking his head Finn returned his thoughts to the present and his recruits. Most of them were doing well now, even with moving targets, but Sai's shots kept going low hitting her 'enemy' in the legs when she hit at all.

“Keet?” he said as he tapped her on the shoulder.

“Sorry, sir. I'm... just not good at this.”

“You said you had experience with rifles.”

“Yeah, I do. Slugthrowers. It was all we had back on Calda. I thought it was the same principle.” She sighed and looked down. “Seems I was wrong.”

“You're not wrong but... you never had formal instructions before have you?”

She snorted.

“No. Back home you learn stuff by doing it.”

Finn nodded.

“Okay. I don't think you realize what you're doing.” Finn reached out and took the blaster rifle from her hand. “When you aim a slugthrower you have to compensate for recoil, if you don't your shot will go high and miss the target. Since you learned by doing, you automatically aim low. But a blaster rifle don't have any recoil to speak of, the plasma bolt goes in a direct line. So when you _aim_ low, you _hit_ low too. Like this.”

Finn raised the rifle and aimed down the barrel at the oncoming holographic Stormtrooper. Lowering the barrel as if he was trying to compensate for recoil he pulled the trigger once. The bolt took the hologram in the left leg.

“With a blaster you aim directly at what you want to hit. Almost anyway. It's good enough unless you aim to be snipers.”

“And if we are,” came the bantering reply of one of the other recruits.

“Then you have a _lot_ more work to do. None of you are anywhere near that good yet.”

Finn handed the rifle back to Sai.

“Try again. And take your time aiming. It'll take a while to break yourself of the habit of aiming low, but you'll get there I promise.”

He saw everyone else had stopped their practice and was looking at the two of them expectantly. He could guess what they were waiting for.

On their first session he'd demonstrated how blasters worked and given preliminary instructions, that demonstration had stuck with them and left them with mouths agape. Finn knew he was a good shot, even for a Stormtrooper, but he hadn't realized that his skills would be considered that impressive outside the First Order.

All of his recruits had been subtly hinting for a second demonstration ever since, but he felt self conscious about showing off so so far he had disappointed them. Today would be no different there.

“Okay, show's over. Back to work everyone.”

They did as ordered though he could tell they were disappointed.

As they continued Finn felt eyes rest on him. He turned his head to see Karé stand off to the side, watching them and he wondered how long she'd been standing there.

She remained standing there as the lesson progressed, her silent figure making Finn feel nervous. He got the impression that she wanted to talk to him so he decided to oblige her by staying behind after he'd ordered his recruits back to their quarters with instructions to do proper maintenance on their weapons. What everyone but Sai didn't seem to realize, was that keeping a weapon in good condition was just as important as knowing how to hit something with it.

Finn bent down over the holographic emitter. They'd had a few glitches during training, nothing serious but he'd rather fix it now and it served as a reason for remaining.

“Need a hand with that,” Kun asked as she approached him.

“I'm not sure if you can do more than me with this unless you're a computer tech ”

“I'm not, but you'd be surprised at what you learn to fix yourself when you grow up on a colony planet with the nearest 'civilized' planet a couple of hundred parsecs off.”

She leaned in over his shoulder and studied the temperamental equipment, poking at the display.

“Yeah, you're from Yavin too right?”

Finn mentally slapped his forehead. It was an inane thing to say, but his nerves were really acting up. She was Poe's oldest friend, going all the way back to childhood, and he desperately wanted her to like him, but he had no idea of what to say to her.

“Hmmm, who programmed this? Don't tell me, Snap. Coding this... eccentric could only be him. You should have had Kaydel look at it instead, she's much sharper than her dad.

“He's supposed to be good at droids.” Finn felt slightly defensive of Snap who'd been nothing but nice to him.

“Droids, yes. Everything else?” She gave him him a deadpan look. “Come to think of it, even with droids he's... just ask him about Mister Bones okay?” she grinned.

“There's a story there.”

“There is,” she grinned. “But I'm not _quite_ mean enough to tell it.” She studied the holoemitters again. “I need some diagnostic equipment to see what's wrong. I would grab Kaydel too, but I'm not pulling her away from her mama right now. How often does this glitch? No don't answer that, if what Poe said about you is true you'll be far too nice about it to save Snap's ass on this.”

“Poe... told you about me?” Finn wasn't sure how he felt about that. Not that he minded his boyfriend talking about him, he'd just like to know what he'd said.

“Probably more than you be comfortable knowing about. In his defense I was grilling him about the Stormtrooper who rescued him, little did I know that he'd ended up dating his rescuer. Though that is a very Poe thing to do when I think about it.”

“Dating a former enemy?”

“No, getting swept off his feet by a hero in shining armor. Literally as the case would have it. Only Poe Dameron would be able to get himself taken prisoner and then have a dashing hero rescue him.”

“I'm not. A hero. I just...” Finn muttered, his voice trailing off into inaudibility, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“And modest too.” Karé eyed him closely. “You know, I almost didn't believe Poe or the others when I heard them sing your praise at breakfast. You sounded too good to be true.”

“So you thought you'd come see the wonder for yourself?” He knew he sounded glib and not at all like himself, but Karé's words were making him increasingly uncomfortable. He felt like he was being evaluated and he wasn't sure how he was measuring up, or what standards he was supposed to meet.

“Something like that,” she replied softly.

“And do I check out?”

“I'd say you do.” She clapped a hand on his shoulder, gave it a small squeeze and Finn felt a weight fall off his chest. It seemed he had passed.

“Let me get that diagnostic equipment and I'll have a proper look at that.” She nodded towards the holoemitter.

“I'll lend you a hand, even if I'm not that much use using it.”

“Chivalrous too. Is there no end to your qualities,” Karé joked softly.

Finn ducked his head and he could feel his cheeks heating again.

“You know I was a bit worried about Poe getting involved again so soon,” she continued.

Finn frowned.

“What do you mean, 'so soon'?”

“After Keeran died.” Seeing the confused expression on his face Karé stopped walking. “Poe didn't tell you about Keeran did he?”

“No.”

She sighed.

“I suppose that shouldn't surprise me.” She hesitated, uncertain on how to continue. “Listen, Poe should decide how much detail he wants you to have, but I think you should know that Poe and Keeran were together for a long time. They broke up when Muran decided to switch to active fighter pilot duty so there was a chance he'd fly with Poe as his commanding officer and that would be awkward for both of them. And he did, of course the Republic would assign one of their best pilots to sort under Poe Dameron.”

A sad smile spread on her face.

“They might have called off their relationship, but they still loved each other. I think... no never mind that.”

Karé's voice floundered.

“How did he die?” Finn asked.

“The First Order shot him down during a mission.”

“Oh,” was all Finn could think of saying. “You- you flew with them too didn't you? You and Iolo Arana?”

“Yes, we did.”

“I'm sorry,” Finn said softly.

“It wasn't you who did it.”

“I know, I just...” Finn didn't know how to phrase his words so Karé would understand. He didn't feel guilty exactly, but there was part of him who felt... culpable in a way for what had happened. Even though he had left the First Order behind when he'd realized what they stood for, even though he hadn't even _been there_ when Keeran died. It wasn't logical, but he couldn't help how he felt.

“Finn.” She took him by the arm. “I'll let Poe tell you the rest, however much he wants to tell you. I just wanted you to know about him and that Poe... well, he's probably a bit more fragile than he seems.”

“I know,” Finn answered, remembering Poe's breakdown a few days before. They hadn't talked more about it since, but Poe had gotten even more cuddly than usual, something Finn was only too happy to oblige with.

“If he's willing to lean on you even a little already, that's good. Poe is a closed off bastard when he's hurting, you'd never know it to look at him. Not unless you push and push hard. If he's willing to open up-” She reached out and pulled Finn into a fierce hug. “Thank you for looking after him. He can be a royal pain, but I worry about him.”

She gave him a squeeze before letting him go again.

“Enough about this. Let's go get the stuff and get that holoemitter fixed.”

 

**oOoOo**

 

When Finn hadn't showed up at breakfast Poe had been slightly worried, it wasn't like his partner to miss a meal, but he had been so happy to talk to Karé again that it had slipped his mind and it wasn't until lunch that his worry came back when Finn still didn't show up at the mess. By then he'd heard that the Falcon had return, but without Rey and Skywalker and Poe wondered if Finn was off somewhere fretting by himself.

Poe decided to hunt him down. He couldn't bring back Rey, but he could at least prevent Finn from being alone with his worries.

He found Finn in the tech storage room, putting some equipment back.

“Hey?”

His boyfriend turned, smiled and wrapped his arms around Poe's waist, a gesture the pilot imitated.

“Hey.”

“You weren't at breakfast,” Poe said cautiously. “Are you worried about Rey?”

“No. Or, a bit, but there isn't really anything I can do is there?. She'll show up when she does. I'm hoping it'll be soon, but-” Finn shrugged.

Poe licked his lips.

“So why weren't you at breakfast?”

A puzzled look spread on Finn's face.

“I just thought I'd give you time to catch up with your friends.”

“That doesn't mean I don't want new friends around. And you shouldn't go starving.”

A small smile spread on Finn's lips.

“Don't worry, I didn't.”

“I wanted you to meet them.”

“And I can't now? I just wanted you to have some time with them.”

Poe smiled and shook his head.

“Who made you Finn?”

The other man frowned.

“Who made you this perfect?”

“I'm not.”

“To me you are.”

Poe kissed Finn's nose. The young man giggled at that.

“Okay, come on. You can meet them now. Or are you going to skip lunch too?”

“No. I was just putting this away. And I already met Karé, she helped me fix the holographic targeting range.”

“What do you think of her?”

“I like. She's great.” Finn's face suddenly grew serious. “She told me-”

“Yes?”

Finn hesitated, pursing his lips.

“She told me about you and- and Keeran. About how he died.”

Poe frowned, silently cursing Karé. It wasn't that he wanted to keep his past relationships a secret from Finn, but he... well, he had wanted to have more of a handle on his grief before he told him.

“Finn I...” his voice trailed off uncertainly.

“Do you need some space? I realize I've been pushing a bit and you... you've been holding back. Is this going too fast for you?”

“No! Please don't think that.” Poe tightened his grip around Finn's waist. “You're not being pushy. No more than I expected you to be.” He raised one hand and ran it across Finn's cheek. “I was going to tell you about Keeran and me, I _will_ tell you. And any other of my exes that you want to hear about. But right now... right now I need _normal_. I don't know if this makes any sense to you, but I need life to go on. Not as if nothing happened, but to go on anyway _despite_ of what happened. Otherwise, what's the point. Of Keeran's death? Of any of it?”

Finn nodded slowly.

“Okay. But tell me if you need me to back off, in part or completely for a while.”

Poe dropped a brief kiss on Finn's lips.

“I will. Now can we _please_ go eat?”

Finn grinned.

“Yeah. I really want to watch Karé grill Snap about that bit of programming that he did.”

“Oh that will be worth watching. Let's see if we can grab front seats.”

 

**oOoOo**

 

Standing at foot of the ramp leading up into the Falcon, Leia steeled herself. She hadn't set foot inside the ship since she and Han had parted ways and the memories it held – good and bad – weighed on her heart. Taking a deep breath she walked up it and inside.

The smell was the first thing that hit her. Acrid and dusty with a hint of... sand? She could almost hear the sound of Han's boots approaching, that swaggering walk he always had.

She stood there for a moment, right inside the freighter, letting memories of days long gone by wash over her, each of them cutting her like a knife. Then she straightened and braced herself for the conversation ahead.

She was unsurprised to find Chewbacca with half his torso inside the Falcon's bulkhead, trying to fix the latest thing that was broken. The Wookie's hearing was as keen as ever though and on hearing her approaching he crawled back out and rose to his feet.

Leia handed him one of the bottles she had brought.

“I thought you might be thirsty.”

He accepted it gratefully and emptied it in one long swallow.

“So what it is this time?” she asked, nodded towards the hole that Chewie just climbed out of.

Chewie's brief growled explanation made her snort.

“Someone installed a compressor? That must have made Han _very_ happy,” she said drily

The mention of her late husbands name made them both fall silent and Leia fiddled with her own bottle.

“Chewie, when was the last time you saw your family? Your blood family.”

The studied casualness in Chewbacca's answer made her chest ache.

_How many years had he spent at her husband's side, ignoring his own family to honor the debt he meant he owed? And what of that debt now? What did Wookie concepts of honor demand of him when he failed to protect the man he owed his life?_

Part of her wanted to ask, but a greater part feared to hear the answer.

“Maybe you could visit them? They must miss you. And you them.”

Chewie made a non commentary sound at her suggestion.

“There is nothing really for you to do here at the moment.” Leia rarely lied outright – apart from the immorality it was too easy to get caught – but _this_ was a baldfaced lie. The Resistance could use his technical skills as well as his piloting abilities and another ship, even a freighter over forty years out of commission, would be welcome too.

Leia had kept her voice calm and concerned as she spoke, and part of her hated herself for the lie and the emotional manipulation she was subjecting Chewbacca to. She tried to tell herself that she was doing this for Chewie's sake, that he would be happier among his own people and relatives than here among strangers, but the truth was that she couldn't bear the sight of him _or_ the Falcon.

Just after the destruction of Starkiller base she had still been too numb to feel much of anything, but seeing him and the ship again had been much harder than she imagined it would be. It cut deeply and during their conversation earlier she had barely been able to keep her mind on the topic for all the pain. She could not afford breaking down right now, there was too many things that needed doing that she dared not or could not, leave in the hands of others.

She felt Chewie waver.

“You could take the Falcon,” she pushed gently, hating herself even more. “She could use a proper overhaul, in a real space dock. We don't really have the facilities for it here.”

Chewbacca grumbled softly, fiddled with his bottle and looked around. Then with an even softer rumbled, agreed.

Leia was momentarily stunned. She had not expected Chewie to give in so quickly and his speedy acquiescent made her feel as if she was in free fall, having tried to go up against a resistance she then never met.

He handed the bottle back to her and pushed himself off the bulkhead, muttering something about getting ready.

Leia blinked.

“Do you mean leave straight away?”

_Why was she arguing? She had got what she came for after all._

Chewie's curt reply, that there was no sense in waiting, stung Leia more than she wanted to admit, but it also made her wonder if he could bear being near her as little as she could him.

“Chewie?” she called softly after him.

The Wookie turned around and looked at her.

“I'll miss you.”

And that also was true. She would miss his temper and dry humor, she always did.

Chewie simply nodded.

“I'll- let you get ready then.”

There was nothing more to say, so she turned and left.

Outside the hangar the base was busy, crew walking by her with only a brief nod in way of salute. For a moment she stood in the bright sunlight, pretending that the tears in her eyes was due to the blinding light and allowing the rays to warm her though it felt as if there were parts of her that no source of heat in this galaxy could ever make warm again.

Then she pushed both the feeling, tears and her dark thoughts away. She had a campaign to plan and little time in which to do it.


End file.
